In homes for the elderly, hospitals or other places dealing with healthcare of people, the moving about of patients by means of a gurney is an inevitable necessity, however, such task has to be carried out safely and without undue inconvenience to the patient and to the people handling such patient.
Many such means have been suggested or used, as disclosed by these references of interest.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,432 (Tabbert) discloses a hospital stretcher being equipped with a top which moves in a lengthwise direction if the foot end of the top is dropped. There are no provisions indicated for moving a patient from bed to stretcher etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,116 (Stryker) teaches a wheeled carriage capable to support a removable stretcher. There is no disclosure facilitating the moving of a patient from bed to such stretcher.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,246 (Lavallee) is concerned with wheeled hospital stretcher comprising a platform or litter which may be tilted sideways and which has on each side retractable guard rails; at least one end of the litter being equipped with a movable head rest. No mention whatever is made of the means and method of this invention for transferring a patient from bed to the stretcher, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,979 (Koll et al) deals with a patient transfer device consisting of two rotatable belts; the device may be placed adjacent to a patient on a bed and cause the patient to be lifted onto the device. The device may be retractable into a stretcher type vehicle. This is a complicated and costly apparatus which is belived not to eliminate the use for lifting a patient onto a device of substantial thickness. No similarities in construction between this disclosure and the present invention are apparent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,772 (Lee) shows a hospital stretcher vehicle having lifting means for a stretcher and the like far enough apart to receive an operating table, etc. between such means allowing lowering a patient onto such table without manually lifting a patient. Nowhere is there any disclosure of the means and method of this invention.
It is believed that the present invention can accomplish the stated intend and that of the above reference in a simpler, less expensive yet more efficient way.
It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a transfer sheet for a gurney and similar vehicle;
It is another object of this invention to facilitate improved transfer of patients or people unable to move at their own ability or risk from an essentially stationary place such as bed or operating table, to a gurney and vice versa;
It is still another object of this invention to allow such transfer of patients without the need to lift patients for any extended period of time, over a distance or to any undue height;
A further object of this invention rests with the ability to readily modify existing gurney type equipment in order to achieve the advantages of this invention.
Other objects of this invention shall become apparent in the description and drawings below.